Isle of Dogs Read Online Free Page A

he’s going to do next or maybe about what I ought to do next. Something about life’s highways. ”
    “Speaking of that . . .” Trader seized the opportunity to move on to a subject that he might be able to control. “Speeding continues to be a serious problem, Governor, and it’s occurring to me that if we emphasize speeding to the voting public, we can divert any unwanted attention away from pirates.”
    “Speeding on life’s highways. Maybe that’s what he’s getting at. Maybe that’s the riddle,” the governor said, fascinated by his own deductions. “But I wasn’t aware that speeding had gotten worse.”
    It hadn’t. But Trader wanted to tug the governor’s attention away from riddles. Crimm was known to make inane, inappropriate statements about whatever his latest whim, curiosity, or observation was, and it would not be good at all should he indicate that a riddle or the Riddler was influencing his executive decisions.
    “Citizens are complaining that they’re forced to exceed the speed limit even in the slow traffic lane because of aggressive motorists riding their bumpers and flashing their headlights,” Trader spun his latest fabrication. “And we can’t have state troopers every other mile waiting with radar guns. Not to mention, there are escalating incidents of road rage because of these jerks who want to go ninety miles an hour and don’t care who they cut in front of.”
    “People aren’t scared enough. That’s the problem.” The governor was halfway listening as he began to decipher whatTrooper Truth had to say about DNA. “You know, he’s right about trusting technology instead of human beings. Maybe we can figure out a way to make the public believe we have some new advanced technology that will catch them speeding even if there’s not a trooper in sight.”
    The governor suddenly began to believe with religious conviction that this was the riddle Trooper Truth was hinting at. It was damn time to scare the public into behaving! Detectives and district attorneys did it daily by threatening suspects with DNA even if there was no DNA recovered or if the analysis of it wasn’t helpful. So why shouldn’t the governor start scaring people, too? He was weary of being nice. What good did it do?
    “We have all these new helicopters,” he told his press secretary. “Let’s scare the hell out of people with them.”
    “What? You want helicopters to find speeders and buzz them?” Trader didn’t like the idea in the least, especially since he hadn’t thought of it first.
    “No, no. But I see no reason why we can’t use them to check speeding from the air, pretend they’ve got fancy computers to do that, then the pilots radio troopers on the ground to go after the bastards.” The governor’s intestines were crawling again, as if they had some place to go in a hurry. “All we’ve got to do is post warning signs on the roads out there, and people will be scared into believing they’ll be arrested, even if there isn’t a helicopter or trooper within ten miles.”
    “I see. A bluff.”
    “Of course. Now, you go to work on that right away.” The governor needed to end the discussion instantly. “Get back with me on the proposal and we’ll issue a press release before the day is out.”
    “Using aviation to catch speeders is not a good idea,” Trader warned him. “It’s going to hurt your rating in the polls and create an explosive situation . . .”
    Governor Crimm’s gut was already creating an explosive situation, and he shot up from his leather chair as he ordered Trader out. Moments later, as Crimm sat behind a closed door with the fan going, he wondered who Trooper Truth really was and if there might be a way to influence what he posted on the Internet. How helpful it would be if the governor couldget a thoughtful, philosophical person to disseminate Crimm’s ideas and beliefs. Crimm reached for the portable phone on the shelf near the toilet